We understand that the restricted hours at the Dayton Metro Southeast Library have been inconvenient for patrons. Rest assured, we’re working closely with library officials to address these challenges and ensure that vital community resources remain accessible.
Violence is a community issue. When I say the community, I’m speaking of the nation at large. The United States is home to the most mass shootings in the world. Mass shootings, as defined by most sources, are acts of firearm violence in which four or more victims are killed.
It is within this environment that fights in schools across the country and other public spaces occur. Unfortunately, violence is a normal and salient feature of our society: The following list is but a small sample of the last 25 years of major violent acts: 1999 Columbine; 2007 Virginia Tech; 2009 Ft. Hood; 2012 Aurora, Colorado; 2012 Sandy Hook; 2015 San Bernardino; 2017 Las Vegas; and 2018 Parkland. According to the “Gun Violence Archive,” we average one mass shooting per day in the United States, according to gunviolencearchive.org.
Despite these circumstances, we still must work to solve local problems that have metastasized from the national culture. We are actively working in small subcommittees with business leaders, city officials, and citizens to determine how we can ensure safety in our community.
Concerns with students downtown and in other public spaces have been ongoing for at least 30 years. The concerns coincided with the introduction of charter schools and the elimination of RTA Limited Service (LS) bus routes for schools in our city in the 1990s. These conversations surfaced during the final years of John H. Patterson’s existence as a high school given that those students were stationed in the heart of downtown.
If it were possible for the district to only transport Dayton Public Schools students, we could effectively and efficiently transport all DPS K-12 students. At this time, Ohio law requires that we also transport students attending charter and parochial schools throughout the city, which places a strain on our resources. Of course, transporting all of our students would only solve one issue.
The issue of students having no safe place to go and limited opportunities to engage in enrichment activities would remain. Without these spaces for young people in our community, we are likely to continue to face issues related to behavior and violence.
In partnership with the Dayton Metro Library, we’ve begun the first of multiple community listening sessions in which we received and recorded quite a few solution-oriented comments that address youth misconduct in public spaces.
In fact, many comments at the Dayton Metro Library forum acknowledged the comprehensive and complex nature of addressing support for our youth so they don’t feel compelled to react to one another or citizens with violence. We look forward to releasing a schedule in conjunction with city officials that will provide additional opportunities for community input.
Sometimes we face an issue of low citizen-parent turnout. In response to this, I plan to begin scheduled home visits in the community to hear our parents’ perspectives and feedback on how to increase opportunities, hope, and engagement amongst our youth.
As a Dayton native, I remember when extracurricular activities for students and adults were plentiful. Bowling, softball, baseball, intramural leagues, church athletic leagues, book clubs, and numerous other recreational center and community center opportunities were plentiful for our citizens. Businesses funded many of the youth activities through sponsorships. We were one of the only communities in the nation through Patterson Co-Operative High School and the Career Academy who employed students for two weeks each month on a rotating basis so they earned valuable work experience in high school. John H. Patterson was cutting edge and a unique academic opportunity that was just one of the programs that made Dayton Public Schools special and nationally recognized.
As I conclude my thoughts, it’s important to recognize that the vast majority of our students are not causing issues in the community. Most students who use the library and other public spaces demonstrate respectful behavior and are not involved in violence or misconduct.
By instilling hope, purpose, and providing accessible spaces and activities, we can transform our community. I invite all community members to join us in this mission — whether through participating in upcoming meetings, volunteering, or simply staying engaged with our schools and students. Together, we can create a Dayton where our youth feel valued, supported, and inspired, and all community members feel safe in public spaces.
WE ARE DPS and our mission is to inspire, educate and empower!
Dr. David Lawrence is the Dayton Public Schools Superintendent.
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